The 32nd anniversary of an attack in which two aircraft of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) shelled the then President's headquarters in Zagreb in 1991 was marked on Saturday with a wreath-laying ceremony at Government House. Pročitaj više

In the afternoon of 7 October 1991, the JNA MiG-29 planes shelled and severely damaged Government House, which at that time was also the official residence of Croatia’s first president, Franjo Tudjman, who was inside the building at the time of the shelling.

One person was killed in the attack and four were injured.

The JNA attack was an intent to kill the President, the then-Croatian leadership and Croatia’s representatives in the Yugoslav federal institutions. The jets shelled Banski Dvori during a meeting between President Tudjman, the then chairman of the Yugoslav presidency, Stjepan Mesic, and former Yugoslav Prime Minister Ante Markovic.

The attack was carried out after a three-month moratorium on the implementation of the decision to sever all ties with the other republics in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).

During today’s wreath-laying ceremony, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that the air raid was an attempt to eliminate Croatia’s leadership and reach a turning point in the war of aggression against Croatia that had been lasting for three months.

“It is important to remember those events and to pay tribute to Croatia’s defenders and all who gave their lives for Croatia. They gave everything to make it possible for us to live in a democracy, to enjoy freedom and to live in a country now deeply integrated with NATO and the European Union,” the premier said.

The moves of this cabinet such as Croatia’s admission to the Schengen Area and the eurozone are the continuation of the policy which started to be pursued in 1990 when in his inaugural speech President Tudjman defined Croatia’s integration in Europe as the country’s strategic goal, Plenkovic said.